hopes lost and maybe found
by inaworddaicos
Summary: When an old friend of Felicity's shows up at her door with a big problem and an even worse solution, it's up to Team Arrow to save the day. Have gone M just to be safe, based on where my character may be taking us. Ofcourse as we all know I own nothing but have simply taken the CW's Arrow cast for a spin bringin my OC along for the ride. Chapter three is up and gets a little dark.
1. Chapter 1

It had been nearly 5 years since I last saw her, and now I'm knocking on the door begging for help. Yes, we were friends in college and I know I should've stayed in touch but my husband wouldn't allow me to associate with any of them. That's what he called my MIT friends, apparently they encouraged too much free thinking. I guess it interfered with his complete and utter control of my life. It has taken me, 12 months to finally break free and now that I am, he is holding the only person on earth I truly care about hostage in order to get me back. I never considered when I escaped that he would take my little sister, but now that he has I have only one option. Go to the one person I know who can help me, the one person I can trust.

I have two reason to go to her, the first is that she is the nicest person I have ever known, the second is that she is also the smartest and her associations mean she has a better chance of helping me than anyone else on the planet. I feel really guilty but my sisters life depends on me using our friendship, I know that if I went back I wouldn't live long enough to save her. You don't run out on a man like Michael O'Leary once let alone live long enough to do it twice. Standing at her door I can feel my heart in my throat and my hands are shaking, back when we were at school I was afraid of nothing. I jumped out of planes, went mountain climbing, led rallies against all sorts of injustices now I fear everything. I can't sleep unless the light is on and I manage to keep down about 1 meal a week. The rest of the time I rely too much on pills, I jitter and drink way too much

As I finally raise my hand to knock, it moves away from me and there stands a man. Not the blonde IT expert I was hoping for but a large framed black man. He smiles but on instinct I back away too scared to speak. I keep going backwards tripping over a small gnome statue and end up on my butt. I'm gone, all shreds of my will power finally dissipating. "Felicity, I think you better get out here." I hear the man say, but I can barely hear him above the beat of my own heart.

" what is is it, Digg?" getting to the doorway.

" oh, my god. Jo is that you?" she says rushing to my side. Her question, pulling my eyes up to her but that's it, I cant let go of the knees that I have pulled up to my chest or hang onto the breath I'm trying to take.

"what happened Jo?" she implores me.

" He took her, he took Lizzie."

" Felicity, I think we need to get you're friend inside. Its very cold out here."

pI hear what he was saying but i stopped shivering hours ago but I still can't let go, looking down at my hands I can see the mix of white and blue. Not to mention, the clear red line that was now flowing freely from my wrist where I had pulled my hands free just two days ago. I knew I must have looked a sight, gone was the girl who used to be the bell of the ball. The brightest star, here I sat petrified of a man who the old version of me would have considered handsome and perhaps kind by the way he hadn't tried to rush /

"Jo, can you stand?" my only response is a vehement shake of the head. I just can't move, with a compassionate nod she speaks " Jo, this is John Diggle. One of my closest friends, can he please carry you inside to get you off the ground." A voice so loud in my head screams at me 'NO RUN, RUN NOW' but the imagine of Lizzie replaces it. I nod, but I begin to shake. Giving the man a look Felicity nods, and I know its only moments till he will be lifting me off the ground. It seems to take him an eternity, but he seems to do it with ease. I shouldn't be surprised, I know at the moment I am probably not much heavier than you're average 12 year old. I was never that heavy but the last 12 months has seen my weight dip well below normal. I have also probably dropped more since my escape as food hasn't exactly been a priority and keeping it down hasn't really been an option. I can see the look of compassion coming from him, as I actually find myself calming down a little. It's his eyes really, the only eyes I've really seen in the last 2 years, were that of Michaels, cold and cruel and that was on a good day. Felicity, is holding the door open as he carries me through and that's when I start to feel just how cold I really was. My skin begins to tingle as feeling returns and although it's not pleasant it's nice to know I can still feel something. Placing me on a large plush couch, stepping away – I'm sure he's noticed that my arms still hold my knees like my life depends on it. He however just nods and speaks, " I'm going to call Oliver and Roy, I think we may need them." See if you can make her feel a little more comfortable. Looking up I smile what I hope he understands is as close to a thanks that I can do at the moment. I knew it was going to be hard to do this, but I hadn't expected to freak out even before I got to speak to Felicity.

That's when I remember Johns face from Michaels files, John Diggle former soldier bodyguard to Oliver Queen. It was those files that saved my life, I found them on one of the few days I had been left alone inside the house, Michael and his organisation were planning to make a move in Starling City and taking over QC had been part of the plan. Killing the CEO and his team had been part of the plan but then all hell broke loose in Starling and Michael and his associates had been forced to push back their plans. It had however, given me an amazing amount of hope to see my old friend in his photo's, not his plans for her though. I swore a long time ago I'd sooner die than let Michael hurt anyone else, so my plan now would have to be two-fold. Save Lizzie and keep Felicity safe but I had a feeling that I wouldn't be the only one that valued her safety above all else.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm not sure how long it's been since I was carried inside but I have finally managed to let go of my legs and actually sit resting them on the ground. A small cup of tea in my hands and I look up to see three man standing in the door way, they aren't saying anything yet, there seems to be a level of understanding in their eye's. It is only then that I realise that I haven't actually spoken since being brought inside, "I'm ready. I can talk now."

Not sure if they actually believe me let alone if I believe it myself, but I will have to be. "please take a seat I'm not great with people standing above me." I say speaking in a shaky voice, noticing that Felicity has just stayed next to me calmly holding my hand. What sort of world does she live in where this whole scene doesn't send her in a panic I think remembering the girl I once knew. However, the files I found showed me something mentioned a number of near death experiences and the rescuing of quite a few people, so maybe she understood a little too well. Hopefully we can find a way to save each other. The men now sitting on the floor in front of me have positioned themselves as far from me as they can while still being close enough to hear me. If this wasn't so serious I probably would laugh, in fact 6 years ago I wouldn't have been able to stop myself, but here I sit full of darkness and remorse. I begin to speak.

Digg's POV.

I was just heading out, Felicity and I having finally decided on a plan to get Lyla to agree marry me again, I was excited but nervous. I see a woman about to knock as i open the door but seeing me she cowers away, a look of absolute terror fills her face. She seems kind of familiar but she's not anyone I know but more like a ghost of someone I'd seen once. After hitting the floor, she wraps herself up in a ball shaking, crying silently – I know the symptoms having seen it too many times./p

"Felicity, you better get out here" I call, not wanting to get too close to this clearly terrified woman. Rushing to the woman's aid the minute she comes through the door, it's clear I was right this was no stranger. "Jo, is that you?" and with that I know where I've seen her before , how I know her face but she's clearly not the same woman I had seen in Felicity's photo's. In every photo she'd had the brightest smile on her face and flowing blonde hair not complete without at least one bright colour streaking through it. Her happy and open smile, and the outrageous stories I'd heard made me think of her as a more outgoing, louder version of Felicity not the broken creature in front of me./p

My heart breaks I'm not sure what's happened to her but I can tell that that woman is long gone. In front of us is not the victim of a single attack more someone released from a prison but who's mind may not yet be out of it. Felicity told me once that Jo had helped her become the woman she was. Trembling with such ferocity I can feel it through the floor boards, holding her legs so tightly I can see the veins popping in her arms. Blood is running from her wrists, clearly cut deep from restraints and her arms are peppered with so many bruises that she's she's more purple and orange than anything else. Hands marks clearly visible and the tell tale indentations on her neck also show she has been through hell and back. I don't know why she here, but I do know that if she wants help I'm in and I'm pretty sure I know of at least 2 other men likely to back me up.


	3. Chapter 3

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes for just a second, "I'm not sure where to start and I'm not sure if any of you apart from Felicity, even know who I please just let me start at the beginning. I'll answer any questions you have when i've finished. So please don't stop me because " looking around at the group " if I stop, I'm not sure I'll be able to continue." I see sincere nodding and I feel the vice which has been around my heart loosen, why is it that in this lounge room surrounded by three men I've never met before in my life I feel safer than I've ever felt before. Of course before Michael I never thought about safety, guess you don't know what you have till it's taken away. " My name is Joanna Mulroney, well technically its O'Leary and that's my problem. I went to MIT with Felicity here" gently squeezing her hand and nodding in her direction "in my last year I met a man. Handsome, brilliant and rich."

" Not in your league Oliver, but wealthy none the less. After graduation we went on a tour of Europe and that's when my life ended. He asked me to marry him, stupidly I said yes. The first two weeks were great, but then I made the mistake of talking to a male friend on the phone. He accused me of cheating and beat me into unconsciousness." The looks on their faces harden, I can see the anger just below the surface but I can also see their compassion. It's that compassion that begs me to continue. "Now I know, that's when most abused women say how their husbands apologise and promise that they will never do it again. Well I wasn't that lucky, I woke up in a gilded cage but I got no apology. No consideration,about what happened. I simply got informed that this is the way it would be. I would never have freedom again, there was no carrot just the stick. He explained to me that he owned me, he owned my designs and that I would be his person technical assistant. If he needed a computer program designed, I would do it. If he needed a weapon designed, it would be done. At first I resisted and found out very quickly that he wasn't afraid to hurt me. That was when I found out just how cruel he could be. In the first year alone, he broke every bone on my right hand and my left leg twice." A gasp escapes Felicity's lips and squeezing I continue before doubt can take hold.

"You should understand I was lucky in one way, Michael had zero interest in me sexually or it could have been worse. Once the abuse started, all vestiges of our relationship were gone. I however, wasn't so easy to break. One year into, I should say our marriage but it was more enslavement, I was able to get word to an old friend that I was in trouble. He came to see me and Michael flipped. I'm not talking yelling, screaming any of that normal type of reaction. I was dragged down the stairs and thrown at my friends feet. His name was Steven McNaughton." To my right Felicity shudders, and I know she remembers him. I can also see that the men in the room notice her reaction. "Michael gave me this look and it wasn't one of anger, it was pleasure. That was when I noticed the gun in his hand and the upturn of his lips as he pulled the trigger, the bullet going straight between Stevens eye's. His next move was to shoot me first in the left leg and then to my right hip."

"Do you know where he put the body?" Felicity asks and I understand why but I also know that the men don't.

Shaking my head "I wish I did. The last I saw of him was of Michaels men carrying his body outside while the in house doctor started to remove the bullets. Which he did without anaesthetic." "The pain only stopped when I passed out, when I came to he made it clear to me that any repeat wouldn't result in further injuries but in my death. In all honesty I didn't care but that's when he showed me the photo's. They weren't of me though, it was of my little sister. I couldn't believe it, they showed her in her high school uniform crying and then he gave me a police report. It said that there had been a break in at my parents place and my father had been attacked. He had been shot twice once in the leg and once in the hip." Realisation showing in their faces " He told me next time, like the last my family would suffer matching wounds and with that he had found my weakness. Over the next two years he brought in young very pretty girls, their job was to clean the house, cook the food" closing my eye's and taking a deep breath " and become my surrogate sisters. If I did anything he didn't like, it wasn't me that suffered. Mia, she was the first one. She lasted 8 months and I did everything he asked. I hacked every government agency on the planet and I built him over 2 billion dollars in patented weapons but that wasn't enough. In the end, all it took was one broken coffee cup. A coffee cup! Mia was cleaning the down stairs office and I heard it from my room, but I was strapped down and couldn't do anything. Not to miss out on the opportunity to hurt me, he turned on the TV above the bed. Over the next 24 hours I watched through closed eye's as he tortured her first mentally, then sexually finally physically. By the time her body finally gave, I was gone. The rational part of my brain knows that, that was why he got her in the first place but logic and I weren't friends for quite a while. It was so, he could show me my future." "He left me tied to the bed for what I think was a week after that but I'm not really sure. The next girl Eva was the one to untie me, she came in barely 5 foot tall big blue eye's and only fifteen years old. The clothes he'd given her to wear were designed to shock. It was the same skirt and top I was wearing on the beach, the day we were married. They didn't show much particularly on her slight frame but I could see the bruises and the way she walked. Her eye's were still puffy from crying and my heart broke again. Eva lasted only 2 months, she didn't die at his hands but instead I found her one morning on the kitchen floor wrists slit and a small piece of paper in her hand. It simply read 'I'm sorry' and all I could remember thinking was maybe I should do this."

"Take my own life, save those I love by giving in but I could help but think that it wouldn't stop him. He enjoyed killing and my little sister looks just like me, is also a computer tech and so sweet. I couldn't do it to her. So I cried and prepared for what was to come next and he didn't disappoint. I know it took all the doctors skill to bring me back, every time I'd recover he'd do it again. He's a particular fan of strangulation and I know my trachea has permanent as do my vocal chords." Looking Felicity in the eyes "I'm sure you've noticed my voice is a little lower and then the third girl came." "She was 14 and the sweetest child I had ever met, but he didn't hurt her at first. He knew my mind was starting to fracture and it was my mind that he needed. So we struck a deal, he'd take his anger out on me and she'd be safe. Not free but safe. Suzie stayed that way for twelve months, I took the beatings and she helped me recover. It didn't take her long to realise that I was protecting her and she was brave. One day he was about to kill me, he had wanted me to cause an explosion just out of Central City and I refused. Not cos I couldn't but a lot of people would have died and I'm no killer, at least I wasn't. So I sent an email to Waller and warned her to protect my family and showed her how to countermand my programs. My family was safe and I was ready to die, I knew it could and probably would mean Suzie's death but that many lives, I couldn't." The horror at my confession clearly showing on their faces and I know this is where I could stop but this is a tale I will tell once and this is my audience. "Michael showed me the news stories about Suzies body being found just 2 doors from her grand mothers house and I can honestly tell you that was the last straw for both of us. Since then, he hasn't had a single piece of tech from me and not a program but I didn't have any freedom after that. If I wasn't in my bedroom I was escorted by two men, I don't even know if it was the same two men as they always wore masks. Their instructions were simple NO SPEAKING AND NO TOUCHING. The last one pretty grateful for because I know that at least one of them had plans for me that were less than pleasurable. The fact that he was always on bathroom duty let me know where his intentions lay. He just knew that like me, he was always being watched and I'm pretty sure that Michael just wanted to see me squirm, whenever I'd get too comfortable or too healthy another round of beatings would begin."

"I know I don't seem too affected by my experiences and the truth is I'm just not here. My panic attack earlier is probably the most emotion I've shown in two years and I know this is all just the calm before the storm. I wont last long and I'm trying to explain what I can, while I can. Once I go down that path again, I'm not sure I'll be able to come back and I can't be certain that I'll want to. So 12 months ago everything changed, I had actually been left home alone, well there was no-one inside the house and for some reason I had freedom to wander around. I went into his offices and found some folders. He had plans to take over QC, he had folders on each of contained an awful lot of personal information and his evaluation was clear. He could take QC while you each lived and breathed, so he'd sentenced you to death."

"Death sentence, what do you mean?" Oliver Asked, then as if he remembered my earlier request, he apologised. "Sorry, continue."

"it's ok Oliver, it's easy to forget that you don't know Michael. Let's just say I'm not the only he likes to torture and he takes over companies that are either in receivership or probate. His plan included the death of the entire Queen family, Felicity and Roy. He also had a special plan for you John" nodding to the big man opposite" here as he believed that it would be necessary to take him out in order to get to the rest of you. His men were already here so I sent an anonymous tip to A.R.G.U.S. and they were taken out."

" I'm not telling you this so that you will feel obligated just so you know how far he will take things. Michael didn't let me out of my bedroom for 6 months after that and he didn't even know I was responsible for his failure, I was just a convenient outlet for his frustrations. In truth I couldn't have left my room if I'd wanted to, he kept me with at least one broken limb for that entire time. Right leg, left leg, he didn't care and I was just lucky that the doctor is worth every penny he pays him or I doubt I could even stand right now. When Starling went all to hell and he considered it a lucky escape and the last 6 months were pretty good, I got to heal and he left me alone but then I found out why. He had another young cleaning girl from Russia, he had once again replaced me as his favourite whipping girl. She's 16 and so sweet. After Suzie I swore I wouldn't let him hurt anyone else and so I finally got the courage up to escape."

"Two weeks ago I hacked his security system and I got her out. She's hidden but he caught up with me in Central City. I was on my way here and was about to jump the train when his men found me."

"I remember being handcuffed and being dragged onto the plane. I escaped by opening the doors at 15000 feet and using the parachute hidden in an above seat compartment. It's funny because I actually pulled the door before remembering there was a chute on board, when I landed I found out that my little sister had been abducted. I thought they were safe but he got past Waller's men and took her. I rang my parents and they told me, they don't know it was Michael and I hope that I wont have to tell them. I expect to hear from him soon, I just cant do it alone. I was hoping you could help me."

" of course, but how do you think we can help you?" Oliver said a clear uneasiness in his voice. "that's just it, I know a lot about you all. No specific's but I do know about lets just say your extra curricular activities." They all openly gasp and for the first time in all our conversation Felicity is the one to tense up.

"Was it in your husbands files?" Oliver asks, neither confirming or denying what we all knew I was talking about.

"No, he'd done his research but it was actually when I hacked into A.R.G.U.S. in order to hide where my tip came from I had to send it internally and tag files on you. I'd actually thought I would have to create the files then tag them, turns out they have a lot of info on all of you. I didn't read any specific mission related files but since they were all under the tag bTeam Arrow/b. It didn't take an genius to figure out the rest."

"So why not just let us know directly?"

"I went to A.R.G.U.S. because I designed their network when I was at MIT and getting into it was like riding a bike, I already had Waller protecting my family I couldn't count on a second favour. Where as any other system would be a lot more difficult as I'm more than a little rusty when it comes to hacking. I knew I wouldn't have much time with Michaels computer and it took me over half an hour just to break through the encryption on it, just to use it. "

" but you said you were alone."

"I was alone but I didn't know how long for and he thought the house was safe to leave me in. It had no tv in the house and only radio, no technology really. His computer, which he believed was un-hackable even to me was the only part of the modern world in the house. I haven't seen a movie, watched a tv show or heard music in 5 years. I was able to read the newspapaper and books in paper back which did help to keep me sane but hasn't helped keep me up to date with the changing face of I.T."

"but why did Michael keep you around doesn't sound like he really wanted you. Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh." Roy spoke for the first time, making me smile with his frankness.

"he needs me alive for patent signings, see even though I refused to keep working. He still has all my designs from the first two years and they will continue to make a lot of money for a long time come. See he has blown through his families money and now most of his financial assets are mine, he just has access to them because we are married. If I die or disappear an investigation would take place and more importantly he would have to share the money with the rest of my family. He doesn't like to share."

"So how much are your patents worth?"

"Around 10 billion dollars." I see their faces drop and I can see them begin to understand why I'm still breathing all be it a little too shallowly.

"So that's a lot of money to lose out on and in the event of my death he would only get half of what he gets now. So better alive than dead, at least till I escaped. Now he has my baby sister and he will want me to come back to him."

" Do you think he will hurt her?" "I honestly don't know, but if he doesn't at first he will eventually. The sooner I get her back the better, I'd walk through the gate right now if I thought it would save her."

"you don't think he'd let her go."

"I think she's too good a leverage against me, he knows I'd do anything to protect knows I already have."

"so what do you want to do?"

"I'll go back but I need you to get us out before I get killed?"

"YOU CAN'T!" Felicity yelled.


End file.
